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Sunday, May 29, 2011

I've decided to try my hand at Pixel art finally. It's pretty basic. Just beginner stuff. I'm hoping to get better as I progress. I typically use a 64 by 64 canvas and construct the picture pixel by pixel which is how it's supposed to be done.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

I'm finally making some progress on my graphic novel. I'm nearly finished with writing the first issue in the series. After that I'll get started on doing artwork and will hopefully be able to post it. I'm hoping to eventually pitch it to a company and get it published. Wouldn't that be exciting. Me, my dad and a the guys were setting up the website with are also going to try our hand at a youtube series. So hopefully in the coming weeks I'll have some updates for those of you keeping up with this blog.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

I just wanted to talk about what it has been like to watch videogames progress so quickly. I remember very distinctly the first ever videogame I played...Rampage. I remember the countless hours of fun taking my giant pixelated gorilla, and climbing, smashing, eating, and stomping my way to victory. But at that point I wasn't really into games yet, I just thought they were another toy nothing more. My interest grew when my dad bought the sega genesis and I was introduced to...Sonic the Hedgehog, I was making my way into the gaming world slowly but surely. I remember my mom getting so angry at me for playing that game for hours on end, but man did I get good. I remember having in excess of twenty lives by the time I got to the final level and wasting them all because I had no idea how to defeat Dr. Robotnik and his death egg. But I officially stepped into the video gaming fray with two particular games. I'll start with the less obvious one...Myst. I have crystal clear memories of being so afraid to play that game, but so enthralled by it because of that simple fact. It scared me. No game had ever been able to make me feel any sort of emotional reaction. Combine that with brain bending puzzles, incredible graphics, and an engrossing atmosphere...I was hooked. But then my true love of videogames began. It was the first JRPG I had ever played, and I was completely engrossed by the story...I lost so many hours of my life to Final Fantasy 7. The story, the characters, the graphics...I was officially a gamer. Since then I've watched videogames go from 2-d pixelated characters to some of the most realistic graphics ever seen. This all in just fifteen measly years, and it often makes me wonder how quickly will we move from here. Motion controls, Online functionality. Where's it going?

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Sorry its been forever since my last post. Me and a few other guys are in the process of starting up a proper website. So it may be a while until I can start posting new stuff. I should have some new artwork to put up soon. So for those few actually keeping up with this blog hang in there I should have something soon.

Friday, February 25, 2011

I had no time to post at all this week, but since its art Friday I figured I'd go ahead and post some art but not my art the art of one of my favorite manga artists Tsutomu Nihei. Nihei is the author of some very popular mangas which include BLAME, NOiSE, Abara, and Biomega. Unlike many manga artists Nihei prefers to use rougher lines, stronger blacks, and makes no use of gray tones. This gives his style a much more unique look in comparison to many of the current manga artists who seem to have an extremely clean style. His writing also differs drastically in that he tends to focus on making a genuinely dense story rather than using the story as an excuse to draw scantily clad girls...Also I finally got my deviant art account up brb26354.deviantart.com

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

With this bizarre pixel art binge I've been going on I decided that I would talk about one of my favorite retro video games. Probably one no one has heard of either. A long time ago...the 90's...my dad downloaded a demo for his computer called Abuse. One of the most finely crafted sidescrollers in the history of sidescrollers. This was also one of the first ever games to utilize the mouse key board set up. Using the key board to move your character and mouse to aim your weapon. This game was tweaked to virtual perfection, amazing graphics, solid game play and perfect control. Although where the game really shined was in it's atmosphere. An overly oppressive prison painted in grays and browns, with huge windows in the background giving you a vista of the dead city outside. It was incredible The animation for the characters was amazing as well. I would be hard pressed to find a better action sidescroller in the entirety of videogames. If you haven't played it grab a copy of DOSbox, download the original files and get playing it's worth it.

Monday, February 14, 2011

This sort of relates back to video games, but I've really been getting into pixel art as of late and I'm going to try my hand at it. If you don't know what pixel art is. It's the idea of making a deliberately low resolution, small image, and creating it pixel by pixel. It's actually quite fun and not as difficult as some may make it out to be. The whole purpose of pixel art is to create something that looks retro and stylish at the same time. It actually can come together to create a very cool and unique image. If you want some examples of pixel art I would suggest going to the website Pixeljoint.com. So thats my post for the day.

Friday, February 11, 2011

I should be getting back to my character sketches soon. I'm also going to start getting more regular with my comics. I'm going to continue Red Ash, which is now going to be renamed Ash Fall. So you can look forward to the coming weeks. So here's a piece I did a while ago hope you enjoy.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Trailer Park will be a bit I will be doing on movie trailers. And since we just got past the super bowl I think we should have some Awesome trailers to look at. Since I'm a huge JJ Abrams fan I think I'll go ahead and talk about Super 8. Up until the super bowl we had no decent trailers for this film, but with a little prying from Steven Spielberg, Abrams released an awesome trailer along with, after even more pushing from Spielberg, a synopsis of the film. Apparently its supposed to be along the lines of X-Files meets Stand By Me with a dash of Goonies for good measure. The plot apparently centers around some middle school boys who are attempting to make a zombie movie on there simple little Super 8 camera. One night when they are shooting they observe a derailed train...with something in side. So basically its a coming of age meets survival horror, with a little found footage for good measure.

Monday, February 7, 2011

This is one of the many types of video game posts that I will be doing. Retro Gears will simply be me talking about various old video games that I have played through and am playing through. Currently I have decided to play through Ninja Gaiden on the NES...probably not the best choice. Unless your a gamer like me who absolutely thrives on controller breaking difficulty. I love the trial an error involved with the playing of this game, and finally getting that incredible feeling of accomplishment once you memorize the pattern and get the flow of the various parts of the level. I even managed to memorize the enemy patterns so well that I was able to get through one entire level without getting hurt. As far as old retro style games go this one is a must for anyone who thinks games now days are too easy. It is also worth mentioning how important this game was for the progression of story telling in video games. This was actually one of the first ever games to use cut scenes and managed to tell a surprisingly engaging story. Still try it out its a blast. Try not to break anything though.

Friday, February 4, 2011

My blog is going to be getting much less sporadic starting now. I will be posting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Fridays are going to be Art day I know that much the other two days will be movie day and video game day. This way you can at least somewhat keep track of what I'm talking about. The days may get switched around on occasion, but these are the basic subjects I will be talking about. So since its art day I'm going to post one of my pieces.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Just got the news that Disney has been working on an animated adaptation of one of Phillip K. Dicks lesser known works, entitled King of the Elves. If you don't know who PKD is then you need to know. The single finest Sci-fi novelist of all time, and he has had more adaptations from his novels than any other writer. Look him up its worth it.